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Pennsylvania House Republicans are looking to strip committee assignments from a state representative accused of abusing state Rep. Tarah Toohil and another woman.

They’re also looking to relocate Rep. Nick Miccarelli’s desk on the House floor so that he is farther from Toohil, R-116, Butler Twp.

Toohil and a Harrisburg lobbyist who has wished to remain anonymous filed physical and sexual assault complaints against Miccarelli. The claims were made public in February.

On Thursday, Republican leaders sent a memo to House members saying they’ll ask the panel that oversees committee assignments to pull Miccarelli from his assignments because he had continued to retaliate against the anonymous accuser, according to The Associated Press.

The memo, obtained by FOX affiliate WPMT in Harrisburg, notes that an investigation found Miccarelli “has continued to maintain for months a statement on Facebook that was specifically identified by the House as a retaliation.”

Furthermore, the memo notes that Miccarelli “retaliated through the dissemination of sexually explicit emails and images without a valid purpose.”

Miccarelli’s spokesman said the lawmaker maintains his innocence but has “no choice but to accede” to the leaders’ action.

In a statement issued to the media, Frank Keel explained that Miccarelli forwarded texts and images sent between himself and the anonymous accuser to two media members “to rebut the serious, false allegations of rape which have been sadly lodged against him.”

“The production of the entirety of this electronic exchange over many years was necessary to provide essential context on the scope, nature, intimacy and length of the consensual relationship between him and the anonymous complainant. The evidence was provided with the explicit understanding that it was not to be disseminated by the media representatives,” according to the statement.

It also stated that Miccarelli did not provide the information to the media to retaliate against the woman.

The statement also claims that the Delaware County lawmaker believed the woman’s name had been made public.

“The media specifically identified the ‘anonymous complainant’ by her first and last name, demanding that Nick respond to her false claim of sexual assault. Since the media was freely identifying her by name, Nick had no reason to believe the complainant sought anonymity,” according to the statement.

Miccarelli said he mentioned the woman’s name on his personal Facebook page but later removed it after he learned she requested anonymity.

The woman said she dated Miccarelli at one time, but when she attempted to end the relationship, he forced her to have sex and held her by the neck.

Toohil, who filed for a protection-from-abuse order against him in March, said he pointed a gun at her six years ago and once threatened to crash a car at high speed and kill them both.

A bodyguard follows her when she works at the Capitol in Harrisburg. She told The New York Times last month that she broke off her relationship with Miccarelli in 2012 but feared going public for years because Miccarelli carries a concealed weapon in the Capitol.

“I always felt, if he lost his political career because I outed him, he would kill me,” she said.

In March, Miccarelli announced that he would not seek re-election. His term ends Nov. 30.

Contact the writer:

jwhalen@standardspeaker.com

570-501-3592

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